Category: author

Chumming the Water © 2023

The term chumming is a fishing term. In short, it is a way to bring fish to you. In Peter Benchley’s jaws, they toss copious amounts of bloody fish guts into the ocean to attract the infamous Jaws.

In marketing, some authors chum Facebook and other social media. Again, it is a technique to bring readers and or an audience to you.

They usually will post a comment that is a hot topic.

“If he identifies as a girl, why shouldn’t he shower with the girls?”

“It’s not like Hitler killed all the Jews, just a few… million. They were privileged white people who took advantage of the have-nots.”

I could go on, but you get the point. The media does this by reporting like this.

“A white cop shot a black man.”

While the cop did shoot a criminal, they don’t tell you that the criminal attempted to kill the cop. They also use the adjectives white and black to stir up racial tension even more than it is. Once the adjective white and/or black is read by those triggered by hate, they won’t read further. They will have their hatred of the opposite race justified and amplified to the point that they, too, will dehumanize the opposite race.

There is a local radio station that I listen to on occasion for black people. What if there was a local radio station for White People??? Would that equal things or foment more hate, racial division, and violence?

If you don’t know the answer in a split second, you might be part of the problem.

A black man that commits a heinous crime against a white child will read as follows. “A man killed a six-year-old girl.” If the media were truthful and not biased, they would say, “A black man killed a six-year-old white girl.”

Is it ok to foment hate of white people but not of black? Biased much?

I worked in PR for years. Herding the masses off a cliff has never been easier with the advent of Facebook, Twitter, and Tick Tock. Indeed we are treated as lemmings.

Reporting on hot-button topics to sway voters is critical, and politicians know no shame. “Mass shooting?? Blame the guns.

Not only do some authors chum the water to attract attention to their novel, but they are so jaded by the process they are missing the big picture.

If I were to jump on the same bandwagon that the ladies of the View have regarding Tucker Carlson, half the country or my readers would be alienated.

If I were to defend him, the other half would be alienated.

When Trump was arraigned in New York, I was disappointed that Stephen King weighed in with ‘lock him up.’

If you were in an office with your co-workers, you would probably be smart enough to keep your political affiliation to yourself. We, as authors, don’t have the luxury of espousing our opinions on anything. The Queen of Harry Potter JK Rowling, took a major political hit when she promoted her thoughts on transgender issues. Again, no matter how factual or logical you are, it is the proverbial Kobayashi Maru. The only way to win the game is not to play.

The problem with that is this. Your first amendment rights are being trampled on by anarchists who are either paid by oligarchs or are just stupid regarding history.

That leads us back full circle to chumming the water.

If you are a terrible writer and just want the attention of those aligned with your political views, go for it. Piss off half your readers and feel good about yourself.

You probably spent months to years on your novel, not to mention all the money you spent editing it, etc. Then someone says something you disagree with, and you stupidly step in dog shit to argue with the dog who just pooped it.

There is an old saying which is incredibly germane. Garbage in, Garbage out.

I admit I spend a very tiny amount of time watching anything on TV. I have found little that has any redeeming quality and certainly nothing to waste heartbeats watching. Whether you watch FOX or MSNBC, they feed your hate. Some talking heads hate white folks to the point it is disgusting. If you are a racist, your bigoted views will be provided more fodder to justify your hate of white people. One racist anchor is on the record stating the world needs far fewer white folks. I was reminded of Hitler saying that the world didn’t need Jews.

If people like her fill your head with hate, guess where you will lean. MSNBC knows bloody well the extent of her racism, but they are chumming the water. Who do you suppose their audience might be?

The world has way too much hate already. We are controlled by people who use hatred to motivate our actions. Don’t fall for it.

Ever since I could remember, I have admired Barbara Streisand. I loved her acting and singing until I heard something horrible about her. It was rumored that she did not allow her servants to look at her in her face.

I found that fact repulsive but believable, disturbing, and upsetting. What I didn’t do was check to see if it were true. Why did I race to judgment? Hate. Hate is a strong emotion that will cause you to act before you think.

The media know this, and they use it daily. That is why I don’t watch cable news.

There is another reason: Cable TV with internet costs me nearly $300 a month. Have you priced eggs recently? How about gas? That $300 would be much better spent on the necessities of life than on propaganda fused with hate.

In these absurd debates, we attempt to one-up the other, which is pure insanity. History contains the road map that we refuse to acknowledge. There is no such thing as your truth or my truth; there is only ‘the’ truth.

It might be time for another Woodstock.

We should look for the things that unite us instead of focusing on things that divide us.

Using cheap tactics like those mentioned above for clicks or followers to my way of thinking is reprehensible. Our government and I suspect others are magicians. Don’t look at the hand with the shiny object; watch the other hand.

Let me know your thoughts, keep it clean; this is a family show. 😊

I have an excellent sci-fi novel that is ready for your order. From Kindle to Hardcover, please take a peek here…

-Best

Noise

Red Pill or Blue?

The media is currently either throwing a tantrum or engaged in a celebration over the former president’s arraignment.

If you are like me and are focused on living in ‘your world’ and not in ‘this world of corruption, violence, and craziness, ’ you must find a way to detach.

I lead a writer’s group in my hometown. I was asked why I write. The answer is simple. I like my world and characters more than those who seek to control us through emotional triggers and corrupt media who will print or say anything for clicks.

Journalism is dead and buried. Whoever owns the most media controls the world.

I was disappointed when Stephen King weighed into the fray, tweeting, ‘Lock him up.’

Does Stephen have privileged information that we don’t have? Is he friends with the DA? Maybe he lives in the white house and tells Biden what to say. That would explain the twisted way the country is currently being run.

As authors, the public, ‘our audience’ shouldn’t know which way we lean politically. They should be totally clueless if we are pro-life or pro-choice.

They should know what kinds of stories you create, what you have done in the past, and your current WIP.

I cringe when I see want-to-be best sellers go off the deep end, regurgitating the talking points of the left or right-wing media.

It matters not who you vote for or which way you tilt. You should know that what you believe to be true is probably not the entire story. The media is incredibly Stalinist, and today’s youth think socialism can work if you just do it correctly. That is akin to being ‘kind of pregnant.’ They either didn’t study history, or it wasn’t taught.

You have heard the phrase to live or die by the sword…Well, my friends, the media lives or dies by the lies they create.

I will get more clicks if I add the word black or white to describe a person. I will do it. Pissing people off is the way to get more readers. Pissing people off also foments racism and violence by dehumanizing an entire race for what; clicks? Who cares if someone gets hurt or is pushed in front of a subway because they are a different color? You got more clicks! People are irresponsible when it comes to the media.

I genuinely believe we are living in the matrix.

Six people are killed in Tennessee. The president jokes about Jenny’s chocolate chip Ice Cream before giving a predictable speech about gun control. Others pray for the trans person and not the people she killed. OMG, I misgendered the murderer! Who cares! Three nine-year-old children were shot to death, and three 61-year-old people were also killed. What the hell is wrong with people worried about the shooter’s pronouns?

Be respectable, and I will respect your right to identify as a toaster if you are an adult and that is what you want to do. Be an asshole like that, turd, nope. Not going to dignify her in any way. She can rot in hell.

The answers to violence in the world are painfully obvious, but…the lobbyist purchased the elected officials to lie to you and me. From the NRA to the teacher’s unions to the gaming industry, it’s about money. Money and power trump the taxpayers every time.

Mental health is the problem!

If you are young and seeking a vocation, become a mental health expert. The world, not just this country but the world, is in crisis. I totally believe that video games are the gateway to insanity. That and mind-altering drugs.

Hollywood is not excused; they are culpable too.

Those with the loudest voices live in gated communities and have never entered a Walmart. Tell me, how much $16 a pint of ice cream is in your freezer?

I don’t listen to opinion shows. Again, they don’t live in our world.

I live in our world but can escape, and so can you.

While I create the worlds, the characters, and the situations, you can come into my world by reading my latest novel ‘Earth’s Last Hope.’

Everything you would ever want in a novel, from aliens, affairs, sex with the president, and I destroy this world before I give you a happy ending. Each page is rich with the story, so don’t skip to the end; it won’t make sense. Start at the beginning and simply enjoy it.

Don’t start it late, or you will be up all night. You will love the character as the pages turn, and the science fiction is not hard science fiction.

Trigger Warning: If two ladies loving each other bothers you, this story might not be for you.

-Best

Give it a review! Reviews are critical to the process of success for authors. My e-mail address is in the book so, write to me if you have any comments.

Eyes Wide Open

$900 objectivity…

Not everything is as it seems.

There is something called the WOW factor that realtors depend on when advertising a home. It starts with a photographer with an eye for composition and finding that WOW factor.

From wide-angle lenses to angles that omit white elephants, good photographers know how to get pictures that will pique the curiosity of a potential buyer. Then there is software that listing agents use to dress up the white elephants turning a desert into a golf course.

We authors do this with book covers, but I digress.

While a book cover should entice a reader to at least look inside the cover, these pictures are to incentivize the buyer to request a tour. A recent potential home has lots of wow. Objectivity can get lost in the ‘wow’ if one is not careful.

Once you decide this ‘home’ is right for you, get some objectivity. More importantly, be prepared to walk away.

It started with a few curiosities. An indoor pool that was in less-than-perfect condition. A building that was rusted to the point of possible structural failure. Shoddy workmanship to cover flaws with minor cosmetic repairs that did more damage to the property than help.

Then there were multiple windows with what appeared to be bullet holes. They were, in fact, bullet holes.

Hiring an inspector is one of your best expenses for purchasing objectivity. It is not his or her job to say, run, don’t walk. Their job is to locate flaws, structural deficiencies, other modifications that won’t pass muster, and cosmetic repairs that put lipstick on a pig.

Google reviews and, yes, Yelp are paramount in finding a good inspector.

The inspector recommended by the realtor had more negative reviews than positive ones. Pictures of nail holes from pictures hung vs. screwed-up roofs were their standard. Attempting to sell you services after the fact, instead of doing their job, was also part of the standard operating procedures they followed.

The inspector we found went above and beyond, pointing out things that must be addressed before proceeding.

A move-in ready home went to no less than $100,000.00 in necessary repairs before an evaluation from the mortgage lender could proceed.

Some notifications were minor electrical updates that had changed with codes. Others were a roof that had been damaged by hail. Still, others were air conditioners that had been disconnected because they were dead.

After I requested previous bills, I was shocked to see their electric bill hit $800 in August.

Finding both AC units in the home varied the input air to output air from 12 to 15 degrees on a 58-degree day, respectively, answered my questions. The winter months would not be much better, from heat pumps to heat strips.

The bottom line is this. Don’t fall in love with a property until after a quality inspector does his job. Look for reviews of your choice of inspectors, and don’t depend on your agent. A listing agent will want the one that finds holes from pictures hung. You want an inspector that will crawl through the attic or under the home looking for anything that could bite you in the future.

-Best

Who is your audience?

At some point, the discovery writer (pantster) must decide who their audience is?

Plotters have the advantage of planning to create a story for a group of people.

For instance, if I were to write a picture book, my audience would be young children.

If I were to write a romance, ladies would be the audience. Sure, some men also appreciate Hallmark-type stories.

As an example, I wrote a story called Jupiter’s Song. I targeted science fiction buffs, however… It is really a coming-of-age story that belongs on the Hallmark Channel. Almost any ‘nerd’ will commiserate with Ralph.

A young child (nerd) finds that his interest in science puts him at odds with society. That makes him a target of bullies. How Ralph navigates the social world of ‘humanity’ is the focus of this short story which is available in our writer’s group anthology on my amazon author site.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Scott-Taylor/author/B0BQCX3SRH

Marketing your book is critical to the process.

From the inception of your idea, an author needs to remember who their audience is. Most YA is written in the first person.

Many subject matter experts (SMEs) tend to put what they know in their stories.

One writer I know wrote a novel where they put tons of information on bicycles in the narrative. The story has nothing to do with that subject other than one of the characters rides one as a hobby. Does it move the story along? Is technical information on different types a distraction? Does it help or hurt the story? Do we care about the brand and the specifics of the brand when it adds zero value to the story? The focus of the book is aliens.

No, that is where a content editor is worth what you pay for. Whoever they used failed at their job.

‘Predators and editors’ is another topic I will cover in the future.

Another author is an SME on guns. What they ‘show off’ in their narrative has nothing to do with the story, plot, or what will happen. Those are just two examples of what not to do.

I don’t think we can pinpoint who coined the phrase ‘Kill Your Darlings,’ but they are correct.

In the movie industry, there is something called the cutting room floor. What ends up there are parts of the movie that don’t move the show along. Killing your darlings are things that the author loves but either detract from the plot or don’t move the story along.

Earth’s Last Hope is a science fiction fantasy with a strong female lead.

Romantic involvement as the subplot introduces the reader to the protagonist. Advanced writers will recognize the negative arc before it turns positive. There is no muddy middle, and I would start this book early in the day, so you are not up all night.

As a side note, I completely destroy the Earth, kill off 8 billion people, and we have a happy ending. In fact, you will love the finish. Don’t spoil it by attempting to read the ending first, as you won’t get it.

Read it one page at a time, and just enjoy it.

From that description, who is my audience?

I will give you a hint. It is written for today. 2023

In our anthology, I have a story called The Star People. ‘The Star People’ is the introduction to Dr. S. Richards. The negative arc comes from her brokenness from her dysfunctional family life as a child. The story in the anthology is a PG version of those chapters in Earth’s Last Hope.

If you are a writer, author, or want-to-be, I am the Carrollton League of Writers Executive Director. We meet in person and on Zoom.

After the pandemic, we decided to keep Zoom. Streaming services such as Zoom allow us to reach speakers, authors, and other creative types from around the globe.

If you want to speak with our group, please drop me an e-mail.

Frequently we have authors join us to talk about their work, how they got there, and so on.

I had a thought as I was closing this blog. Isn’t it odd that the UFO they shot down in Roswell in 1947 was later claimed to be a balloon? Where is that guy with the wild hair that screams Aliens? It seems we have a history with UFOs and balloons.

Staylor823@gmail.com

-Best

Scott Taylor

What the hell is going on?

To start this blog, let me first tell you that what you think is the truth is probably anything but.

As an author, I do my best not to be distracted by the news. Why?

First, the news is either broadcast through a lens of bias or is straight-out propaganda.

I like Bill Mahar, and I also like Ben Shapiro. Where have you been if you don’t know those names?

Bill is a classic liberal, and Ben is a traditional conservative. Both are intelligent people and worthy of your time.

Republicans and Democrats are dehumanized and marginalized by the media. If you have been brainwashed by the left, you won’t consider listening to a conservative. If, on the other hand, the right has bent your ear, you will dismiss anything you hear from the democrats.

It’s not enough to divide us along political ideologies. They need us divided along racial lines too.

Our current administration is going out of its way to curry favor with people who typically lean left by demonizing white males. I find what our leaders say offensive and, in the words of this generation, cray cray.

Bill went on Ben’s show. He clearly had based much of his ideology on talking points by the left.

I don’t think Ben shifted his opinions by anything Bill had to say. On the other hand, I moved some of my thoughts by what I heard. While both men are articulate and funny, I think Ben’s opinions are based on history and reality vs. what Bill heard on CNN.

The first lesson in life is,

Don’t believe everything that you hear.
Follow the money.
Just maybe you can judge a book by its cover.
Watch what someone does, and discount what they say until their actions match their values.

The world is a crazy place. Megalomaniacs with Nukes hold the entire world hostage. Weapons of mass destruction should be outlawed worldwide…period. I touch on this in my latest novel, Earth’s Last Hope.

If you wonder why there are so many shootings, you must follow where people get their input.

Hollywood
The Media
The gaming industry

Garbage in equals garbage out.

When we think of a time when the world, or at least this country (USA), was at its peak, Father Knows Best and Leave it to Beaver were what we watched. Shows with moral construct.

Acting up in school would get your butt warmed up rather nicely. It was both painful and humiliating. It should be.

Gun Reform is not the answer. Mental illness is.

We will never fix the problem. Both the entertainment industry and the gaming industry own too many lawmakers.

Until we clean up DC, the world is in peril. Money is the root of all evil. Money turns into power, and power is addictive as any drug that was ever conceived.

While Elon thinks occupying Mars is the answer, we must look past Mars. Read my novel for my thoughts on the subject.

My thoughts are my own; I am not for sale. My book is.

If you like it, please give it a review.

You can find it on Amazon and the E-version on Smashwords.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1327396

-Best

Are We From Mars?

Are we mistaking climate change for evolution?

Stay tuned and be forewarned, I am a SciFi Author, and I think way outside the box.

I have studied Climate Change to some degree for years now. The first thing one must do is take politics out of the equation. Politics equals power and money. Corruption goes hand in hand with power plays, so one must remove the bias injected into the equation by discounting those with anything to gain.

When Greta came on the scene, the science she was parroting was faulty. You can make the graph say anything you want when you overlay data from different data sets. Hence the infamous hockey stick.

Politicians attempt to use harmful sound bites to steer the conversation, as people will more than likely click the headline that predicts the end of the world.

For the following few paragraphs, I want you to take a deep breath, sit back, and relax. I want you to clear your mind of the bullshit that has been spoon-fed to the world.

Again, I am a science fiction author. I think well outside the lines that those who educate us would like us to color in. I am not that person; I color outside the lines. I try to be the most argumentative person on the block if I think you’re wrong. Someone must stand up to the robots who want us all as slaves. I am that person.

There are solutions to the world’s difficulties that we may not look at because those resolutions are not inside the box. Those who own the media are controlled by oligarchs. Those people who got rich from screwing the little people. People like you and I, they want us to be smart enough to be useful idiots. When you are too old or damaged to be helpful, like a broken tool, they toss you in the dustbin. In this case, the dustbin is the end of the line in a disease-infested nursing home run by people who treat you like trash.

In my latest novel, Earth’s Last Hope, I weave into the tapestry of my story some primary hypotheses with fiction. The story is not heavy science and is more about us today and where we are headed if we don’t turn this ship around. To be clear, there are aliens, lusty ladies, space travel, Area 51, Roswell, and forbidden love. Before the main character’s arc goes positive, we live in the head of a person who is broken by her father and life.

You will love the main character and be impressed with the supporting cast.

There are many characters. Each plays an integral part in the story. As I wrote the book, I made notes of who was who, and for your enjoyment, I included that list of names. I know them each by heart. You might like to reference the ‘manifest’ in the back.

Many surprises, twists, and turns will keep you turning the pages.

If you want to know where the Earth is headed, look at Mars. If you have the ear of that climate change Greta person, tip her to this novel. Even she would like it.

What???

Yes, my friends, I have a pretty good idea based on a hypothesis that this planet will eventually go the way of Mars.

Someone will read my book or this blog, take the ideas, and claim them for themselves.

I can guarantee that plagiarism, theft of ideas, and so forth are rampant on the internet.

I have had novels stolen, translated into different languages, posted in other countries, and sold. I don’t make money. Someone else does.

I am going to address climate change…I will also tell you why this planet has headed the way of Mars.

Are you ready?

Are we going to be flooded by rising oceans?

Is the weather more intense because your grandfather drives a hummer?

No… We are in much more danger of humanity being snuffed out by lunatics who think you can win a war with Nukes. …

Again…look to Mars… Mars was once a blue planet. How can that be?

Are you scratching your head yet?

Do you want to know how that can be?

Here is a hint, if you want to know the future of Venus, look at the Earth.

If you have read this far and are intrigued, you could do me a solid and buy my book. I get a small cup of coffee for every book sold. Bezos makes the bulk of the money. With enough coffee, I can keep thinking outside the proverbial rectangle.

As a side note, Greta just released her latest book on climate change after talking to experts.

The mature adult Greta just got into a pissing contest with Andrew Tate. Pffft. I wonder why there are nukes in the world; I just can’t figure it out. SMH

The media will make Greta rich by hyping spooky stories about the sky falling. Her biased opinion invalidates any science she purports to consider relevant. They will make her rich because they like to push negative stories like Climate change to control the narrative. Chicken Little and Greta have lots in common. Too bad she never read the children’s book. Had she studied science from an unbiased source, not the IPCC, she might have tempered her scowl.

I think you will find my work of fiction much more entertaining than hers. Scientists will probably find my theories closer to the facts than charts and graphs based on screwed-up data.

We lose 90 tons of atmosphere every day thanks to the cosmic wind. That atmosphere contains thousands of gallons of water. Could the droughts, dried-up rivers, and even our Grand Canyon that look like the canals on Mars be signs of things to come? Could those spires of land poking out of lakes and different oceans be a precursor to the fact that we are losing water and not going to have sea level rise?

Do you really believe the White Cliffs of Dover rose from the depths of the abyss? Do you really think that the Grand Canyon pushed up from somewhere below?

Read my novel.

-Best

Scott

Earth’s Last Hope and/or The Hills We Climb

Film at 11

Don’t you hate clickbait?

Admittedly one would have to be willfully stupid to fall for the antics of the ratings-craving media. If you put Trump in the title, the haters will click to see who is suing him now. The MAGA crowd will click to hate on the haters. It’s a win-win.

An article in the news today is about the Earth’s core that has stopped spinning. Top scientists agree that it has stopped. And…

Here is the pitch…I wrote a book called Earth’s Last Hope…Follow the link.https://www.amazon.com/stores/Scott-Taylor/author/B0BQCX3SRH

In my humble opinion, we have it all wrong. Scaring the shit out of people to change their behavior is how they control the masses. Film at 11.

Tectonic plate movement pushed the land together, causing it to buckle and rise out of the slime. There is also land that is now high and dry, caused by water loss due to the cosmic wind. The inconvenient truth that is making Gore a billionaire is a damned lie.

If you want to know the fate of the Earth, take a look at Mars. Yes, folks, that’s the future of the planet, no matter how much carbon dioxide you fart.

Unlike the x bartender, self-acclaimed climate expert, AOC, or the infamous Greta watch me scowl thorn in the butt berg, they are willfully stupid.

Allow me to elucidate.

Once upon a time, the Earth had much more water than now. Not just two thousand years ago when Jesus was doing his thing, or when Noah was searching the hardware stores for gopher wood, but a long time ago. We are talking about little land being above the water line so long ago.

I get a kick out of the flood story in the bible. Where did the water go?

Listen up. I believe that I know.

There is this thing known as the cosmic wind. Yes, wind, but not the kind that blows your hair around.

We lose 90 tons of atmosphere every day.

“WHAT?!” That (?!) is an Interrobang, btw. Save the interrobang… 😊

Yes, (90) ninety tons of atmosphere is blown into the vacuum of space every day. I suspect the water levels will continue to recede, and the climate might warm up because there is less ice. The ice melts and fills the oceans, but the weather will change as the ice melts, and there is less of it.

Again if you want a preview of what is to come, look at Mars.

If you don’t believe me, think again.

Greta, listen up. Fifty-odd years before Galileo studied the heavens with a telescope, a guy named Copernicus determined that the planets revolved around the Sun. The church was not happy with him or Galileo.

This is important, Greta. Pay attention.

Let’s admit that religion gets in the way of the facts without throwing this whole post into a rant on religion vs. science. If God has a language, I think it would be math. That is just my opinion.

Now to the meat of the issue. Why is the Earth headed the way of Mars?

If you study the Sun, you must have at least wondered what fuels that big ball of light.

Without the math, which you wouldn’t look at anyway, the Sun burns, uses up, 5 million tons of its fuel every second. Go back and read that sentence again.

Why is that important?

Back to Newton and Copernicus, the Earth is falling. Each body in orbit around the Sun is falling. When you add in velocity, you have an orbit.

Our moon is falling, as are the space station and all those satellites up there. Along with the space junk, it is all falling. When the space junk slows down, it loses its orbit or decays, and then we have to worry if the sky is falling.

The Earth has a velocity of about half a million miles an hour. In my book, ‘Earths Last Hope, our alien friends capture Venus and tug it into a higher orbit by increasing its velocity.

Back to the Sun. If the mass of the Sun is decreasing by 5 million tons a second, sooner or later the orbits of the bodies that are falling will do what?

If you said they move into higher orbits, you are a star. Well, not a star like the Sun, but you get a proverbial gold star.

If a body such as the Earth, which is more or less in the goldilocks zone, goes into a higher orbit, what do you think will happen to the climate?

Take your time; I can wait.

On a cold night, when you back your butt up to the fireplace to warm yourself, you might notice that the further away from the fire you get, the cooler it gets.

As the Sun loses mass, the orbits of all the planets will change and move outward. Venus one day might be where humanity ends up. I hope we stop killing each other and grow up so we can tackle the tough questions and not ‘he who dies with the most money wins.’

The climate will get cooler as we move further away from our star. Since the process is so slow, you will never see it. I would wager that Mars was once much closer to the Sun, as were the rest of the planets.

If Al who didn’t invent the internet, Gore really gave a shit about the climate, he would not be flying his private jet around the globe. Scaring the shit out of you is his ‘film at 11’ moment. (that is the absolute inconvenient truth.)

You can read my book. It is a page-turner. I might have other thoughts on Mars in the book…spoiler alert…

-Best

Why Write…New Release

Why Write,

As I publish my latest novel, ‘Earth’s Last Hope’ people ask me, why?

That’s a head-scratcher.

I will couch this next paragraph with blunt honesty. Everyone thinks that they can write.

While you might have made it through high school English and college, that doesn’t mean you can write. It’s not impossible, but it takes practice. It takes more than just practice. It takes passion.

When I think back on all the hours I spent learning to paint or play the guitar, the passion drove me.

“Why?” That is the question that drove me.

Since I began my writing career, I have written over forty-five million words. Yes, that’s quantified.

Much like my early painting, I cringe when I look backward at my previous works.

‘That is how it should be.’

Some predators thought they could write. Since these predators can’t, they pose as SMEs in a facet of writing.

I know of nobody that doesn’t think their first novel isn’t going to be a New York Times Best Seller.

Reality is a sucky thing, but don’t stop dreaming. Dream big. Be real… Get beta readers that you trust.

These posers know that if you spend time writing a novel, you are so involved that you will spend money to make it big. While they laugh all the way to the bank, your hopes are what you got for your money.

I get that same ‘feeling’ when I purchase a lottery ticket. My dollars’ worth of entertainment is this. “What will I do with all that money when I win?”

Friends, that is the only reason to spend that dollar. If you paid attention in your statistics class, you understand that the house always wins. Stay out of gambling joints unless you have money to piss away.

Yes, I go to Vegas but have an ‘oh shit budget.’ The key is to realize that the ATM is not a slot machine.

When those wheels don’t end where I wanted,” Well, Shit.”

When the house wins….”Well, shit.”

Vegas is an atmosphere for entertainment. Not a retirement strategy.

Writing novels is not a retirement strategy; it is entertainment. Firstly, it is entertainment for the author. Secondly, it is a stepping stone toward being better at your craft. Thirdly and lastly, it is entertainment for your audience.

With those few words of wisdom, let me expound on my latest novel.

Earth’s last hope, in short, is this… Hope.

In this novel, I kill off 8 billion folks and destroy the planet, and …the story has a happy ending.

Please don’t spoil it for yourself and read the last chapter first; it won’t make sense.

For you writers, the characters had negative and positive arcs. The story has negative and positive arcs.

For you readers, it’s a page-turner.

The story is light sci-fi, a thriller, and a romance with a strong female lead.

I hope you read my book, give me feedback and if you like it, please go to the place you purchased it and leave a review.

Over a million books are put into the marketplace every year. Trust me, few of those books are worth the time to read.

The Star People is the backstory of the main character. I published a version of it in our league’s Anthology to whet the appetite of readers like yourself. In Earth’s Last Hope, those few chapters are included but modified to go along with the rating and theme of the book.

Some names changed, as did the rating. MA 14.

Thanks for reading the blog and for following me.

Follow me if you are interested in writing. I pick different topics and expound on them, cutting through the BS. Just free info from me to you.

Much Love -Scott

Earth’s Last Hope

Toxic Twitter

Around 1982 I ran a BBS. For those who were not into computers (or alive), in 1982, it was an age when personal computers became affordable. They were still damned expensive. If you were to adjust for inflation, the cost of a PC back then would be equivalent to $15K today.

Bill Gates had just bought DOS from a fellow in Seattle for five thousand dollars, repackaged it, and leased it to IBM.

A BBS hosted at home meant a dedicated phone line, a UPS, and other hardware and software. A BBS was a hefty investment.

Water seeks the lowest level; if you sleep with the dogs, you wake up with fleas. Two cliches apply to my efforts to spend this kind of money and time.

The idea of the BBS was a place to exchange technical ideas with other like-minded folks.

It wasn’t long into the process when the first pornography was uploaded to my rather expensive hobby. I suppose Cheryl Tiegs disappearing one piece is mild in comparison, but it was pretty surprising. Someone bothered to take the time to photoshop her picture from SI, make it a GIF, and upload it. Of course, it went viral, and I imagine that even today, you can locate it floating around on the internet.

It must have made an impression; that was forty years ago.

The BBS came down when someone uploaded porn that was more graphic and certainly nauseating. The fleas were rampant. I wanted nothing to do with depravity which some people found amusing.

Fast forward forty-odd years.

I get these messages in the e-mail from Twitter that tells me they miss me.

As an author, social media is essential. Telling people about my latest book release and getting them interested is a perfect application of the media.

I am in the finishing stages of writing a novel called Earth’s Last Hope. As an adjunct to this process, I went back on Twitter last evening to see if my accounts still worked, and so on.

To my shock and horror, what I found in a matter of minutes made a nude Cheryl appear godly.

Without the gory detail, I saw a man hanging from a bridge. It was real. I witnessed animal cruelty which I find reprehensible, and then I saw a video of an execution. Yes, folks, Twitter suggested it “for you,” and there it was. A man was killed with a backhoe.

There were other less shocking things.

The point I am making is this. Those kinds of videos will screw some folks up. You cannot unsee an execution.

There was another execution by a cop. The cop shot the man several times. The video showed him drawing up into the fetal position before he expired.

You cannot unsee this stuff.

This post is about mental health. We wonder why kids of a young age shoot their teachers or parents and blame guns. It is easy to blame something that you can’t control. It is much more difficult to glance at the mirror and think that you might be part of the problem.

We see teenagers do violent things with each other and wonder why. Could we be the role models that they are following?

I know a company pays people to scrub the internet of such stuff. I know folks who work for this company. Could it be that they have an axe to grind against Musk, so they are allowing this kind of crap to stay visible?

Back in school, we were thrilled to see a projector in the classroom after lunch. That meant a movie. Hmmm, we were shown the film ‘The Execution of Private Slovak. Why?

What compelled the teacher to think this was an appropriate film for kids?

All these years later, I remember the film vividly. I remember them telling the soldiers who would be firing the bullets into this man, where the heart was, and so on.

Vietnam was still going on, thanks to LBJ. The draft was still in vogue, and I suspect that since we were close to that age to be ‘conscripted,’ the film might be shown to keep us from fleeing to Canada. That’s a guess.

My point is the film was disturbing. Much like the things we see in these Tik Tok videos, much of it is disturbing to the core.

Garbage in, Garbage out is something I believe strongly. I am all for free speech. I think that age-appropriate free speech, much like age-appropriate situations, is necessary. How are young minds supposed to interpret things like snuff films? Now, if you add to the mix actual executions not made in Hollywood, how do they process something so grotesque?

Twitter, in its current form, is not safe for minors. I don’t want that stuff in my head, and I know how to process it.

Twitter should have a safe filter, much like Google’s safe search.

-Best

Don’t use the condiments

On a local social networking site, a person sounded off about some child drinking from the chocolate syrup bottle at the local BBQ joint. She corrected the child and told management what had happened. The girl behind the counter tossed the syrup. When the boy told his father, he glanced at the woman, waved, and left the establishment.

The thread went on with many weighing in.

Since my thoughts are more verbose than intended, I thought I would put this on my blog instead.

It starts with the parents. It might be more profound than that. Kids are being raised by video games and what used to be Hollywood.

The economy is such that usually, both parents must work. Your children are not raised by ‘Father knows Best, or Leave it to Beaver.’ If they are in a single-parent home, that lack of good behavior goes double. Where do they then learn what is socially acceptable?

I am a writer. Often my characters bump into today’s value system. It has been incumbent upon me to learn where these kids get their values. It was not an exhaustive search. After looking at some of the games they play, examining the amount of unsupervised time they have, and the educational system tolerating bad behavior, I had my answers.

Not long ago, I was in the food court close to some teenagers who were lamenting about their home lives. These were kids wearing designer clothing. They each had a smartphone, some had braces, and they went on about how crappy their parents were. I had to leave.

Speaking with children of different generations, I notice a variance in what they think is acceptable behavior. It is rather shocking.

Today’s 30-somethings that I speak with are clueless. At their age, they should be saving for retirement. Instead, they rent an apartment equivalent to the house they grew up in. They attempt to live as if they were still under their parent’s roof and eat out as if it were free. Many parents enable this behavior by supplementing their income. Their kids live paycheck to paycheck, usually running a deficit by the end of the month. Much like that college loan, they also have credit card debt. Why? They were never taught to manage money.

Instead of attempting to do it for themselves, they complain about how crappy life is and, yes, spend their free time on the computer playing video games. It is no small wonder they cannot afford their student loans.

The gaming industry is $188 Billion. Proponents of video games will argue against what I am telling you. Still, from Sandy Hook to many other mass shooting events, most of those shooters had one thing in common. Can you guess?

One of the officers investigating Sandy Hook told the press that the kid was ‘very proficient’ at killing that many people. It was almost as if he were trained in the military. Huh…

The Parkland Shooter was part of a unique program where his misdeeds (criminal) were kept secret from the School to avoid the school pipeline to prison. The argument for this program is that kids will grow out of it. One trip to the south side of Chicago will change the mind of most. The FBI knew about the shooter’s violent proclivities and were even warned before the shooting. They did nothing. I am still amazed that the activist David Hogg has yet to figure it out.

A teacher in California was beaten by a student because ‘she gave him a failing grade.’ The school system tried to convince the teacher (while she was still in hospital) not to press charges. If memory serves, he broke her jaw, among other things. It would ruin the boy’s life if you pressed charges. I wonder where that ‘child’ is now?

Playing video games releases endorphins which make the player feel good. The hormones and chemicals released are addicting. We humans can be addicted to almost anything, even pain. Does that fact shed some light on why some self-harm?

Those game players reading this will likely chime in, telling me I am wrong. Truth is, I am not mistaken. If you were to honestly log the amount of time you spend playing games, you might be surprised. How does it make you feel to win or take that hill? How do you feel when you lose? When confronted with the truth, how does that make you feel? How does that make you feel if you are a sniper and kill the ‘enemy? No, I am not wrong.

Can you guess why Syrup Boy was drinking the syrup? Sure, it tasted good, but what else? Yes, chocolate is addicting, as is anything that makes you ‘feel’ good. That little feature of most animals is for the survival of the species. I don’t need to spell that out for most of you.

Those proponents of video games immediately tried to spin things differently, but…If you live in a world full of violence, day in and day out, guess what happens to your psychic? Where did this Sandy Hook killer learn to be so proficient? He blew one of the teacher’s heads off and was heard laughing about it after the fact. One wonders why. Was it what he expected?

Were you aware that you could get PTSD from video games? Now we have VR (virtual reality), which will most certainly make the game more real or immersive. Are we even looking into cause and effect? No, it’s the guns doing it.

It is almost as if we should have a consumer protection agency or something looking into cause and effect. What happens if?

There is a real danger among us; syrup boy is just one minor symptom that we are doing something wrong. The prison population is a vast indicator we are doing something very wrong. PFFT

Cause and effect, garbage in, garbage out. Why has nobody put this together? Is it that unpopular? Can we not handle the truth? Are we not paying anyone to look into such things?

Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte, it will all be ok.

I mention the $188 Billion gaming industry because they hire PR firms to spin events like some mass shooting in another direction, away from the obvious. IT’S THE GUNS!!!

Guns are an easy emotional target or trigger word. That is why gaming lobbyists push the gun narrative. They know what it is, but $188 billion pays for PR firms and lobbyists and buys congressmen. It also makes the 2cnd amendment and the NRA the enemies of the people. If they can tie it to a political party, that is just a bonus.

Mental illness is rife. Covid, the lockdowns, and much more play into what is happening. With the lockdowns, the youth have more time to immerse themselves in these games. During the lockdown, the youth were not as socially active as they might have been. Games are an alternate reality. One wonders where reality and games collide. Add drugs into the mix, and that line will get super blurry.

Uvalde; his grandfather was a drug dealer, his mother a junkie, and you know grandma was not innocent or clueless about where the money came from. Pot today has a THC content of up to 95%. In the ’70s, the THC content was about 5%. The effects on the brain are mind-numbing and can cause uncontrollable rage. A toxicology report is still pending on the Uvalde shooter.

Riddle me this, why did the City of Carrollton, Texas, spend tax dollars on creating an E-sports (gaming facility for kids to play video games?) Wouldn’t it be better for kids to play these around their parents? Is this a taxpayer-funded babysitter or surrogate guardian who would also drink from the syrup bottle? Is it for kids who can’t afford a gaming computer?

In truth, I am uncertain what this facility is. On the surface, it sounds like a taxpayer-funded Dave and Busters, only for video games, period. Shouldn’t we try to get kids away from the keyboard and outside playing sports?

I am glad that the kid that shot up the July 4^th celebration was such a coward that he gave up without committing suicide by cop. We need to learn what motivated him and everything else we can. He, like others, will end up being a statistic, but nevertheless, information is valuable.

Where did he learn to be a sniper? He must have known about ballistics to shoot that distance and hit the target. Where did he learn?

Many people claim that School is a pipeline to prison. They blame it on things that are far from the facts. To quote Jack Nicholson, ‘They can’t handle the truth.’ In School, you learn the basics to get by in life and are introduced to social mores.

When I went to School, if your shirt was not tucked in correctly and you were caught, you earned a swat. For the rest of that day, every time you sat, there was this stinging reminder to make sure your shirt was properly tucked in.

Some parents argue against such things. They doth protest. Their argument is that you are teaching kids to hit; I disagree. You are teaching them that we have rules. While you are here, you will follow them. Trust me, parents, kids know how to hit already.

If you have flown, there are more rules than I care to count. Do not joke with the TSA.

In society, there are rules. You and I have those same rules. We get hit in the pocketbook if we speed or drive erratically. If you have one of your tires over the line in a handicapped parking area, the fine is over $600. I am talking about accidentally crossing that little white line with one tire.

One lady had just picked her kid up from school. She was on her phone while speeding through the school zone. The motorcycle cop had his lights on. He tried to get her attention for over a mile before he was forced to go up to her window at a red light and tap on it. I hope her child watched that interaction.

She was terribly distracted by the conversation on the phone. Speeding through a school zone is a hefty ticket. On your phone, while driving in a school zone is yet another. Not seeing the cop for at least a mile…Those mistakes will be quite the spanking.

My point is that there are rules; when do we start teaching them to our kids? There are social mores that are also incumbent upon us to teach. We don’t drink from the bottle. We cannot be our children’s friends. We must be parents first; that is our job. We are not talking about child abuse or beating anyone; we are talking about course corrections. We are talking about parenting. Know what your child is doing. We parents are held accountable for their actions until they reach adulthood. Our job is to raise them so that the criminal justice system does not have to.

Some scream about prison overpopulation. We, the parents, are in part the cause of this. The lack of morality and, yes, the violence are symptoms of not being engaged with your progeny.

Dysfunctional families are endemic to the problem, and that is what congress should be addressing. Breaking the cycle of single-parent homes requires education.

Drugs and the promise of easy money probably eclipse poor parenting, as even the best of parents end up burying a child due to an overdose. Some lose them to gang violence. That, of course, is systemic of drugs and the drug culture.

It starts at home. You are the person they will model until such a time they attempt to emulate some actor or actress. If you teach them correctly and raise them right, you will not need to worry about what the schools are doing to indoctrinate them into this woke world of weirdness. You might also keep them from hanging with the wrong crowd.

Anyone who teaches your kids to hate their country must be in a different vocation. Any person who grooms your young child must be behind bars for pedophilia. The messages children get today are mind-bending. Homeschooling is almost a must.

Your options are clear. Either be of good moral character and lead by example or teach them how to look innocent in a lineup.

-Best